Sensex, Nifty End Modestly Lower On Sino-US Trade Tensions

(RTTNews) - Indian shares ended lower on Monday, mirroring weakness in global markets as the U.S. government shutdown entered its third week and trade tensions between the U.S. and China returned to the fore.

Markets, however, ended off their day's lows as U.S. President Donald Trump posted conciliatory message about China tariffs on Truth Social after threatening 100 percent tariff.

Trump said that he thinks the U.S. relationship with China will be "fine" and the U.S. wants to help China, not hurt it.

Trump also said the Nov. 1 deadline is an "eternity," but could advance the date if China takes further actions.

Separately, U.S. Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that President Trump is willing to pursue reasonable negotiations with China, but all options remain open, including the removal of Chinese companies from the U.S. market.

Beijing said that it would surely take resolute measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests if the United States insists on going the wrong way.

The benchmark BSE Sensex ended the session down 173.77 points, or 0.21 percent, at 82,327.05 after having fallen to a low of 82,043 during intra-day trading.

The broader NSE Nifty index slipped to an intraday low of 25,152 before closing down 58 points, or 0.23 percent, at 25,227.35.

The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes fell 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. The market breadth was weak on the BSE, with 2,613 shares declining while 1,677 shares rose and 169 shares closed unchanged.

Tata Motors led losses to close 2.7 percent lower while UltraTech Cement, ITC, BEL, Power Grid Corp, Hindustan Unilever and Infosys all ended down around 1 percent.

Globally, Asian markets fell broadly despite improved trade data from China. European markets recovered some ground after falling sharply on Friday.

Gold hit a new record high at $4,079.81 an ounce while the U.S. dollar steadied near 99.00.

Oil prices were up nearly 2 percent in European trade after settling down nearly 4 percent to hit five-month lows on Friday.